On Wednesday, a federal appeals court agreed with a judge's decision to move a Turkish Tufts University student from an immigration detention center in Louisiana back to New England. This is so there can be hearings to find out if her rights were broken and if she should be let go.

A group of three judges from the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York said no to the government's request to wait. They decided in favor of Rumeysa Ozturk after hearing arguments on Tuesday. Ozturk has been in Louisiana for more than six weeks because of an article she helped write last year. This article criticized how the school responded to Israel's war in Gaza.

The court mandated Ozturk's transfer to ICE custody in Vermont by May 14 at the latest.

Separate immigration court proceedings for Ozturk, originally commenced in Louisiana, are currently underway, and he is permitted to participate virtually, according to the court's statement.

A judge in Vermont ordered that the 30-year-old student be brought to the state for meetings to decide if she was held illegally. Ozturk’s lawyers say that holding her goes against her rights, such as the right to speak freely and the right to a fair legal process.

The initial deadline was May 1, with a hearing concerning her bail application set for Friday in Burlington, and a subsequent hearing planned for May 22.

The Justice Department, which lodged an appeal against that verdict, asserted that the immigration court in Louisiana held jurisdiction over Ozturk’s case. The appellate court had temporarily suspended the transfer order last week while deliberating an urgent motion submitted by the government. However, on Wednesday, the court declined to grant the request for a more prolonged postponement.

The appeals court did not agree that the Vermont court was the wrong place for Ozturk's request to be let go. It also said the government did not prove that there would be serious harm. The court stated that Ozturk's wish to be at the Vermont hearings in person is more important than the government's costs and difficulties.

The government claims it would encounter challenges in facilitating Ozturk's remote appearance for her immigration hearings in Louisiana; however, it has not contested the legal and practical viability of her virtual participation in removal proceedings.

A request for commentary was sent via email to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.

Immigration officials apprehended Ozturk on March 25 while she was walking in a Boston suburb, subsequently transporting her through New Hampshire and Vermont before placing her on a flight to a detention facility in Basile, Louisiana. Her legal representatives stated that she had not been apprised of the revocation of her student visa several days prior.

Ozturk’s legal counsel initially lodged a petition on her behalf in Massachusetts, yet, lacking knowledge of her whereabouts, they could not communicate with her until over 24 hours following her detention, after which a Massachusetts judge subsequently moved the case to Vermont.

The government now contends that this transfer was irregular, a position the appeals court deemed incorrect.

Last year, Ozturk was among four students who authored an opinion piece in the campus newspaper, The Tufts Daily, which critiqued the university's handling of student activists advocating for Tufts to "recognise the Palestinian genocide," reveal its investments, and withdraw funding from businesses linked to Israel.

A memo from the State Department said Ozturk’s visa was cancelled after they decided her actions could harm U.S. foreign policy. This was because she created a difficult environment for Jewish students and seemed to support a terrorist group. One reason was that she helped write an article that agreed with a group that was later temporarily stopped from being on campus.

In March, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security said, without showing proof, that investigations found Ozturk was involved in activities supporting Hamas, which the U.S. calls a terrorist group.

Esha Bhandari, one of Ozturk’s lawyers, said in a statement that no one should be arrested and kept in prison just because of their political ideas. She said that every day Rumeysa Ozturk stays in prison is too long. They were thankful that the court stopped the government from trying to keep her away from her community and her lawyer while she tries to get out of prison.